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M-622 Avalanche
The M-622 Avalanche is a heavy weapon in Mass Effect 2. Description Cryo Round technology is used to modify standard weapon slugs. A cooling laser collapses the ammunition into Bose-Einstein condensate, a mass of super-cooled subatomic particles capable of snap-freezing impacted objects. Normandy's scientists have found a way to apply this technology on a large scale: by generating a mass effect containment "bubble," this proof-of-concept large weapon technology is effective against armor, shields, and biotic barriers. It is nicknamed the "Cryo-Blaster." Acquisition *Unlocked at the Normandy research station after two Heavy Weapon Ammo upgrades have been researched. Costs 15,000 iridium. Player Notes *Unlike other heavy weapons, having the Avalanche selected does NOT slow the player down. *The Avalanche can hold twice as many rounds as the M-100 Grenade Launcher and has a faster rate of fire, allowing many rounds to be fired in quick succession. *Repeated hits will strip off shields, barriers, and armor. Once unprotected, enemies, even heavy ones like YMIR Mechs and Geth Primes, can be frozen leaving them open to further attacks from which they will suffer double damage. Husks will die spontaneously upon freezing. *The freeze effect of the Avalanche is uniquely long, lasting about 15-20 seconds, making it the longest disabling effect in the game. *It takes a short while for the projectiles to reach their target, and a single hit does little damage, but the generous ammo capacity partly compensates for that. *In order to freeze an enemy, the target must remain in the freezing cloud, making it mainly a defensive support weapon. On the other hand, the freezing cloud may trap several enemies at once, providing an area effect. *The Avalanche can be fired rapidly or charged up, although a charged blast is no different from a non-charged blast. *It isn't a good idea to bring this weapon into confrontations with the Blood Pack, as the freezing effects don't stop regeneration, and the little damage it does won't be enough to make a dent in enemy numbers. However, krogan can be much easier to kill once frozen. *The M-622 Avalanche does not cause any type of splash damage to Shepard or the squad, regardless of difficulty setting, allowing it to be fired at point-blank range safely (one of four heavy weapons capable of this; though what the Collector Particle Beam and M-451 Firestorm lack in splash damage they make up for in higher single target damage and note that the Arc Projector must hit an enemy in order to shock other, nearby ones). *The projectile fired by the M-622 Avalanche can sometimes ricochet off of squad members it is fired at. *The Avalanche produces a large blast radius of 5 Meters. *The weapon is particularly effective in many harder fights on the higher difficulty levels as it can take entire groups of enemies out of the fight for an extended period of time. In many difficult fights new enemies will immediately respawn to replace any that were killed. Freezing enemies instead of killing them outright prevents this and reduces incoming fire, letting you focus on a hard target or reach an objective safely. *This weapon is particularly effective with Grunt in your squad as his charge may then shatter your frozen foes. Conversely it can be less effective with biotics like Jack in the squad as biotic abilities and other abilities with a force component often have less effect on frozen enemies. *The Avalanche's projectiles are affected by gravity, allowing them to potentially arc over cover. Trivia *Although holding the fire button charges up the weapon, it does not have any effect on the weapon. This could possibly have been an early feature that was removed. *The Avalanche, like many other Heavy Weapons from Mass Effect 2, was originally intended to appear in Mass Effect 3, as a screenshot shows Shepard using it on an Atlas during the Sur'Kesh mission, but it was cut late into development. The heavy weapons that were cut still remain in the game's coding. See Also *Upgrade Guide de:M-622 Avalanche es:Avalanche M-622 fr:M-622 Avalanche pl:M-622 Lawina ru:M-622 «Лавина» uk:M-622 «Лавина»